All Rise...

Editor's Note

The Charge

The continuing drama of those Left Behind.

Opening Statement

The Left Behind phenomenon continues to be one of the great success
stories in Christian publishing—or any branch of publishing, for that
matter. The series of books (now numbering ten with no end in sight, and that
doesn't count the spin-off children's series, board games, and the like) have
been read and enjoyed by millions of people around the world. This audience has
not been limited to the predictable conservative Christian fan base for
religious fiction; it seems that many people, regardless of their particular
beliefs or lack thereof, are interested in the brand of eschatology-as-current
events served up by authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.

With such widely appealing subject matter and a devoted army of fans, it was
only logical that these novels should make the transition to the screen. Left
Behind II: Tribulation Force is the second in what promises to be a long
series of films based on the exploits of those left behind to face the dangers
of the seven year Tribulation period.

Facts of the Case

A week after the Rapture, people around the world are still trying to make
sense of the mass disappearance of billions of Christians as well as all
children under the age of twelve. Among those left behind to pick up the pieces
are Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron), a high-powered news anchor with an audience
that spans the globe; Bruce Barnes (Clarence Gilyard), a pastor of a Chicago
church who didn't come to believe what he was preaching until it was too late;
Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson), an airline pilot struggling to deal with the loss
of his wife and son; and Chloe Steele (Janaya Stephens), Rayford's daughter.
This small group of committed (and unusually well-connected) believers sets out
to spread the truth of Christ to all who will listen. They also work to sound a
warning about UN Secretary-General Nicolae Carpathia (Gordon Currie), whom they
have discovered is the Antichrist. Carpathia is cleverly exploiting the
worldwide chaos and confusion as he seeks to solidify his hold on power and
become not just head of the UN, but ruler of the entire world.

Each member of the "Tribulation Force" carries out this mission in
different ways. Bruce continues to operate his church, preaching a message of
salvation and end times prophecy to all who will hear. Buck uses his media
presence to win the trust of Nicolae, and seeks out opportunities to broadcast
the truth about world events. Rayford uses his flight skills and his personal
connection to Nicolae's assistant Hattie Durham (Chelsea Noble) to infiltrate
the Antichrist's organization and become the pilot of his private jet. Chloe
does her best to help the sick and suffering, and nurses an affection for Buck
that grows into a real romantic relationship.

The mission leads the group to the highest corridors of world power, and to
confrontations with age-old prophecies come to life.

The Evidence

First off, I have a confession to make: it seems I was far too lenient in my
review of the original Left Behind
DVD. I wanted to be as fair as I could with that film, and I genuinely wanted to
like it. I even went so far as to buy the VHS version and donate it to my church
library; it is somewhat telling that a total of about six people have checked it
out in the meantime. Of those, all faithful fans of the novels, no one has had
much good to say about the first film.

That said, I would like to state clearly that this new film is an
improvement over the previous installment in just about every way, both as a
movie and as a DVD. The story this time is more narrowly drawn, playing out
among the group of friends that form the Tribulation Force. It becomes a
two-track narrative, showing Bruce and Chloe as they stay behind in Chicago and
deal with the day-to-day realities of the chaos enveloping the world, but also
showing Rayford and Buck as they deal with events of global importance.

Among the actors, the only performance that really stands out is Brad
Johnson as Rayford Steele. Johnson does an excellent job with the material.
Rayford is a complex character. He still grieves the loss of his wife and son,
but is coming to understand their glorious destiny. He is still working to
understand his own newfound faith, yet he feels the obligation and the passion
to share it with others. He loathes and fears Nicolae Carpathia, yet works as
his personal pilot to help further the cause of the Tribulation Force. Johnson
is very good at balancing all of these competing forces within the character and
produces a passionate, conflicted performance.

The rest of the cast is good, but not particularly noteworthy. Kirk Cameron
is his usual self, energetic and perhaps just a bit too earnest. Gordon Currie
as the Antichrist makes for a pretty good villain: cold and cunning at times,
over the top at others and willing to chew a little scenery when necessary.
Special mention goes to Janaya Stephens, who was a glaring weak link in the cast
in the first movie but shows surprising improvement in this installment.

I am disappointed in the choice to provide a full-frame transfer only. I
don't know if this is the proper aspect ratio or not, but given plans for a
theatrical release of this film, I tend to doubt it. The picture as presented is
very good. Fine details stand out sharp and clear, and colors are faithfully
rendered. There are a few problems, noticeably in darker scenes which are quite
grainy and a bit soft. Shadow detail in these scenes is variable: sometimes very
good, sometimes very murky. There is the occasional bit of moiré shimmer in
patterns such as brickwork, but it is not obtrusive.

There are two audio options provided: a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, and a Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo mix. The 5.1 mix sounds nice and clear, with a nice blend of
sound effects, music, and dialogue. There is not a lot of directionality across
the surround channels, but they are put to use with some atmospheric background
sounds and the musical soundtrack.

The crew at Cloud Ten Pictures evidently has a real love for the DVD format,
because this disc is packed with so many extras that any other studio would be
hawking it as a Super-Duper Special Collector's Ultimate Extravaganza Edition.
Well, that might be overstating things a bit, but you get the idea. There is a
"Making Of" documentary featurette that runs a good 26 minutes. At
times it is a little too self-congratulatory, and it certainly overstates the
success of the first Left Behind movie, but overall it is an honest look
into the motives and methods behind the making of Tribulation Force. The
makers of this movie stress that they believe the Bible can be a source of good
storytelling, and that this is what they have tried to bring to the screen.
There are also five deleted/extended/alternate scenes which can be watched with
or without commentary. There is an amusing (and refreshingly brief) three minute
"gag reel" of bloopers and outtakes. Of interest to the special
effects enthusiasts is a short feature which shows various test concepts for a
morphing special effect applied to the Nicolae character late in the movie. The
filmmakers also include a three minute tour of the Temple Mount set, where some
of Left Behind II's pivotal action takes place. A humorous interview
segment, "What Do They Really Think of Each Other," allows the cast to
have a little fun at each other's expense. Text screens of biographical
information are provided for six on-screen cast members and four of the
behind-the-scenes crew. We get music videos for two of the songs on the
soundtrack, featuring fairly well-known Contemporary Christian recording
artists. Trailers and Web Links are provided for this film as well as its
predecessor and several other Cloud Ten Pictures productions.

Finally, the Cloud Ten DVD department shows that they are really making an
effort to join the big leagues by including a feature commentary track.
Collaborating on this track are producer Nicholas Tabarrok and production
supervisor Andre Van Heerden. Unfortunately, it is not one of the better
commentary tracks I have heard. It is informative, and does provide some
interesting nuggets about the making of the movie, but it is a bit dry and has
numerous gaps. Most of the time Tabarrok and Van Heerden simply react to what is
on the screen, rather than providing any deep insights into the film. Still, any
commentary track is better than none at all. I assume this was the first
commentary for each of these men; I expect they will get better at it over time.
One odd thing about this commentary track: usually, when listening to a
commentary, one can hear the actual movie audio in the background. In this case,
there is just silence in the background. It's not a big problem until we hit
some of the many gaps in the commentary, or until the two gentlemen comment on
something happening with the film's score at a given moment and expect the
audience to be able to hear what they are referring to.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

As much as this sequel improves over its predecessor, it also shares many of
the same problems. One of the tenets that is drilled into the head of any
aspiring writer is "Show, don't tell." This is even more important for
filmmakers. It is unfortunately broken with astonishing frequency in
Tribulation Force. It seems that most of the dialogue in the movie is
exposition. Kirk Cameron gets stuck with some of the most blatant; it seems that
every other line is something to the effect of, "Oh yeah, that must be that
(insert generic "big thing" here) that everyone's been talking
about." There are major, dramatic, exciting world events happening all
around these characters, but do we see any of them? Occasionally we get a shot
of our heroes watching something happen on television, but mostly we just get
talky scenes where they stand around and discuss what they have heard is
happening. It then falls to Clarence Gilyard as Pastor Bruce to provide even
more exposition from the Bible so that the audience can understand why the
things the characters have been discussing are significant. Some of these
problems arise due to the difficulties in translating a 400+ page novel to the
screen. Others presumably arise due to budgetary constraints. Still others are
just bad writing and a failure to envision a truly cinematic version of the
story. In any case, they make for a movie that often bogs down in dialogue.

There are other problems with the movie that stem from the script as well.
There are inconsistencies, such as Buck Williams being some sort of high-powered
globe-trotting journalist/anchorman, but then getting chewed out for using a
cubicle in his network's offices without permission. Probably the biggest
problem coming from the script is the lack of a coherent plot. As stated above,
the narrative follows two tracks, depicting the small, human events in Chicago
and the earthshaking events happening on the global stage. The problem is that
the personal dramas in Chicago are depicted with a lot more clarity than the big
global events that theoretically drive the plot. The movie winds up telling two
separate stories that are linked but don't mesh very well at all, giving a
disjointed feel to the whole picture. Again, this is the sort of thing that can
be made to work in a novel, but the filmmakers would have done better to take
one story and tell it clearly, rather than muddying the waters needlessly.
Finally, the big victory that the Tribulation Force scores at the end of the
movie doesn't seem like much of a victory at all; there is no sense of buildup,
climax, or resolution to the film. From what I understand, the Tribulation
Force novel was cut in two in order to fit into the allotted running time
for this movie. Based on the results, it would seem that they cut out too much.
As it stands, Tribulation Force only runs 94 minutes, which is pretty
paltry for this kind of movie; cut out some of the Chicago scenes and there
would have been ample time to develop a more complete, compelling story and fill
out a more respectable running time in the neighborhood of two hours or so.

Closing Statement

Based on what I have been able to glean from the IMDb, it appears that a
Left Behind TV series is in the works. Very little information is
available at this time, but it seems to me that this might be the best direction
to go with this material. With a series as lengthy and complex as the Left
Behind books, episodic television might be a better fit than a series of
feature films that really don't stand on their own very well.

The Verdict

It is a close call, but Left Behind II: Tribulation Force is going to
go free, based on the improvement over the first film and the obvious effort
that went into the DVD presentation. It's not a great movie but it's not
terrible, either. The DVD, however, is an excellent effort, and Cloud Ten
Pictures could teach a thing or two to some of the major studios.